Impact

There are few things that impact me more than listening to someone being completely transparent and real in sharing about God’s faithfulness and power in their life. There is an inexplicable comfort found in connecting with another person’s frailties and struggles on a personal level and then hearing how God met them, right there, in the midst of their need. This connection breaks us free from satan’s lie that we are alone in what we are going through and gives us the truth that we so often need to hear… that God sees us, He knows our pain, and He is willing and able to meet us at our point of need.

Throughout the pages of scripture, we see God do many miraculous things for His people, and in turn, His people give testimony to God’s power and goodness in their lives. We read about altars being built as a reminder and testimony to future generations of what God had done. Unfortunately, as time passed, the generations to come would begin to forget and eventually cease to tell of God’s mighty works. When the testimonies of His people grew silent, there inevitably came a generation who did not know God. “After them another generation rose up who did not know the LORD, or the works he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)

There has never been a time when the testimonies of God’s people were unimportant. I’d even go so far as to say our testimony of who God is and what He has done for us personally is crucial in the furtherance of the Gospel. When God moves in a life, when He saves, when He heals, when He protects, when He speaks – it’s exciting! And when someone is in awe of what He is doing in their life, the excitement and joy they elicit is contagious and it fuels a desire in others to see Him move in their own lives. When God moves, it is meant to be shared and celebrated, not taken lightly, hidden or ignored.

It is time for God’s people to break the silence. It is time to make Him known to this generation and the generations to come! We are called to impact this world with the Good News of Jesus Christ and each one of us can do this by sharing our personal testimony of what He has done for us and how others can know the same amazing grace and redemption, strength and peace, healing and hope. We have no idea what He is able to do through our obedience to simply share the story of faith that He has penned in our hearts – His story that is written into the very fabric of our lives.

I ask you to ponder one simple question. Do you think the person who led the person, who led the person, who led Billy Graham to faith in Jesus Christ had any idea what the ramifications of their obedience to share the Good News of Jesus Christ would ultimately be - what an impact their faithfulness to share would have on countless lives around the world? Lifeway Research noted in "Billy Graham's Life & Ministry By The Numbers" that an estimated 2.2 billion people heard him preach and an estimated 2.2 million responded to the invitations to become a Christian - and those numbers do not include the lives that continue to be impacted because those people, in turn, have been and continue to be obedient to share how Jesus Christ has changed their lives.

It’s time for you and I to stop hindering what God desires to do through what He has already given us. He stands ready and able to use our personal testimonies to send the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world – if we would simply walk in faith and obedience to the calling He has placed on our lives to tell others about what God has done. Each and every believer’s story is a constant reminder that God is still working powerfully in and through the lives of His people.

It’s time to tell the world who He is and what He has already done for them.